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10 March 2010
We will be launching our pre-election campaign early next month. The theme is “share the power”. As health and social care face a new era of belt tightening and political uncertainty, the risks of short term cost cutting undermining quality and patient focus are bound to increase. The way to counter those risks is to step up the level of user involvement and voice. National Voices will be calling for (1) much simpler and more accessible feedback channels for individuals; (2) better involvement of patients in decisions about major service change and (3) more power sharing in the consulting room. Watch this space. And if you have any useful material to reinforce these points, let us know.
Jeremy Taylor attended the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s patient and public partners forum on 23 February. On the agenda were two live consultations on pre-registration nursing education and raising concerns, which the NMC are keen to get responses to. The chief executive and chair of the Council emphasized their commitment to more joined up regulation between the NMC, which regulates individuals, and the Care Quality Commission, which regulates institutions. Jeremy made the point that this would become more important in an era of belt tightening, as would easier ways for both professionals and patients to voice concerns. It was noted that while nurses have a long standing duty to voice concerns that affect patient safety, an equivalent responsibility for employers to encourage and positively respond to such concerns is buried in a little known code of conduct for managers. The NMC chief executive said that in his experience whether or not nurses were sufficiently caring had nothing at all to do with whether they were graduates.
Council for healthcare regulatory excellence Council for healthcare regulatory excellence (CHRE’) have produced a report titled, ‘Health professional regulators’ registers: Maximising their contribution to public protection and patient safety’. This work arose from our 2007/08 performance review, which highlighted variation in the level of detail provided by the regulators’ online registers and the way the information is presented to the public. A summary of CHRE’s findings and recommendations, together with a link to the full report, can be found here.
European Patients Forum redesigned its website The European Patients Forum redesigned its website as a vital communication tool for its members and for the health community as a whole. This decision resulted in an improved website which offers a fresh new look that technically provides its online visitors with significant improvements in navigation and easier accessibility for users with disabilities.
CQC publishes the state of health care and adult social care The Care Quality Commission published its first annual report to parliament on the state of health care and adult social care in England. It also published its five-year strategy. For more information please visit the CQC website.
BME ‘Training For All’ Project, launches new website The BME ‘Training For All’ project website was recently launched this month to promote the project to BME and Training sectors.
National Voices meeting, 30 March 2010 National Voices is hosting an event on 30 March in central London, which will be open to Service User panellists and representatives from our member organisations. The theme is “share the power”. More details to come.
Contact a Family: Disabled children and their families let down by court ruling Contact a Family was deeply disappointed at a court ruling that rejected a challenge to the law which prevents disabled children under three claiming mobility benefits. Click here to read the full article.
7. Consultation and Involvement
Law Commission's Consultation Paper on Adult Social Care Law The Law Commission is today publishing a consultation paper on Adult Social Care. This paper sets out the Law Commission's provisional proposals for the reform of the law relating to adult social care, with the objective of providing a new coherent legal structure.
NMC: Raising and escalating concern The Nursing and Midwife Council (NMC) are consulting via an online survey running from 6 January to 17:00, 31 March 2010. The consultation on Raising and escalating concerns is based on draft guidance, developed in association with professional, patient and employer groups, trade unions, nurses and midwives. For more information please visit the NMC website.
Development of practice standards for nursing project
The development of practice standards for nursing project being undertaken by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN). The primary aim of this project is to develop overarching standards for nursing practice that describe characteristics that underpin good practice in nursing care.
There are two ways to respond to this consultation:
If you have any questions or wish to discuss this project further, please feel free to contact Chris Watts, Project Manager (on 01865 787131 or chris.watts@rcn.org.uk or standardsfornursing@rcn.org.uk
NHS Wandsworth: Tutor Training for the Expert Patient Programme Date: 10, 12, 15 and 17 March 2010 Venue: NHS Wandsworth, London SW19 3U Description: NHS Wandsworth is pleased to offer Tutor Training in March 2010. Each training day will start at 10.00 am and finish at 4.30pm, with a lunch break, and plenty of stretch and refreshment breaks. The training is being lead by Jean Thompson MBE and Kiron Kurien, and therefore will be Ss2Q compliant. The cost will be £800 approx. The price includes lunch, refreshments, manuals and materials but does not include accommodation or assessments. Assessments can be added and quoted for if you wish. Contact: For more information and a booking form, please contact the EPP team by email: expertpatients@wpct.nhs.uk or telephone: 0208 8127946
Patient Information Forum (PiF) 2010 Annual Conference – "Patient Information: Moving Beyond Leaflets". Date: 11 March 2010 Venue: Aston Villa Football Club, Birmingham, B6 6HD Description: The event is now in its 5th successful year and will be tackling the issues that are foremost on your plate, with key updates on the Information Standard, Information prescriptions and NHS Inform. Plus there will be hands-on workshops on new ways of producing and disseminating information, like social marketing, information centres, SMS and online information. Delegate fees are £199 +VAT for PiF members and £279 + VAT for non-members Contact: For general enquiries contact Nicole Naylor, PiF administrator at secretary@pifonline.org.uk or call 07813 143 384.
Achieving the end of life care pathway – what works? Date: 17 March 2010 Venue: The Kings Fund, London, W1G 0AN Description: This conference, run in partnership between The King's Fund and Marie Curie Cancer Care, is aimed at those working in end-of-life care who want to find out what works to improve access, increase choice and deliver quality services in line with the strategy's overall aims. Keynote speaker will be Professor Sir Mike Richards CBE, National Clinical Director for Cancer, Department of Health. Contact: To view the programme and to book your place, please visit The Kings Fund website:
Agenda for Later Life 2010 Date: 18 March 2010
Managing long term conditions Date: 15 – 16 April 2010 Venue: Harrogate International Centre, North Yorkshire HG1 5LA Description: Now in its fifth year Managing Long Term Conditions 2010 will be a two day event and continue to be the biggest forum for all those involved with people living with long-term conditions. Contact: For booking information please contact
Patient Information Forum: Healthy Reporting, challenges and solutions. Date: 20 April 2010 Venue: The Welcome Trust, London NW1 2BE Description: This seminar will be looking at ‘Healthy Reporting: challenges and solutions'. Attendees are encouraged to bring examples of articles and other relevant documentation to supplement the presentations on the day. Places are limited to 50. Contact: If you would like to attend please request a booking form from Nicole Naylor at secretary@pifonline.org.uk before 9 April 2010.
Patient Involvement and Empowerment 2010 Date: Tuesday 11th May 2010 Venue: 4 Hamilton Place, London Description: Through a series of presentations, this one day conference, chaired by Jeremy Taylor Chief Executive National Voices, focuses on the challenges ahead as set out in the Operating Framework and provides important updates on recent changes in Patient Involvement and Empowerment. Sessions include measuring the outcomes of patient involvement in an NHS Trust; empowering patients to lead on quality improvement; learning from patient experience and the power of patients and users to improve services and practice. Contact: For more information please call Hanisha on 020 8541 1399, email hanisha@healthcare-events.co.uk or visithttp://www.healthcare-events.co.uk Download Brochure: http://www.healthcare-events.co.uk/conf/booking.php?action=home&id=435
Managing Patient Harm Date: Thursday 20th May 2010 Venue: Manchester Conference Centre, Manchester Description: All too often avoidable harm does happen to patients and this harm must be managed to ensure the patients, and staff, are fully supported. Through a series of presentations, this practical one day conference examines how those 10% of patients who experience some form of harm associated with their admission are treated and managed in the aftermath. Contact: For more information please call Hanisha on 020 8541 1399, email hanisha@healthcare-events.co.uk or visithttp://www.healthcare-events.co.uk Download Brochure: http://www.healthcare-events.co.uk/conf/booking.php?action=home&id=433
Local Government Ombudsman recruits for expanding adult social care role From 10 February, the Local Government Ombudsman will be advertising for dedicated, enthusiastic staff to join our new specialist adult social care teams in London, York and Coventry. The Health Act 2009 has given the Ombudsman new powers to act on complaints made by care users about the services they purchase directly from care providers. The new service begins in October 2010, and is wholly independent of the regulator (Care Quality Commission). For more information please visit the Local Government Ombudsman website
The Big Ideas Grant (UK) The Department of Health (DH) has launched the Bright Ideas Grant (B.I.G), a £50K fund aimed at helping unlock the potential of those hundreds of small ideas that people have for improving health and social care services. The DH is looking for ideas that help ensure people's experience of health and care services is a good one and that they feel they are able to retain their personal dignity and self respect. Ideas can be big or small. Anyone is eligible to apply for B.I.G whether as an individual or an organisation, just need to have seen something related to dignity in care that wants changing or made better and have an idea for how to do that. Grants will be of up to £10,000. B.I.G is not about mainstreaming, rolling out or continuing existing projects, no matter how innovative they are. B.I.G cannot be used to buy new equipment or activities that have already being used in care service, tried and tested as promoting dignity in some way e.g. a mobility scooter, a computer, a Wii Fit, dance classes etc.
The deadline for submitting ideas is the 18th March 2010.
Contributions: If you have any items of information or news that you would like to see in future editions of 10 Things, please send details to info@nationalvoices.org.uk or contact Laurence Whittle on 020 3176 0733. Laurence Whittle |
